Every Hero Review

First impressions can sometime be deceiving. Sometimes a game starts strong and then fades away whilst the reverse can also be true. I hate to say it, but Every Hero is a game that struck me with its charming visuals and neat concept only for the game’s faults to stop me enjoying myself.

Off the bat, Every Hero has some striking visuals. A beautiful looking crayon paper-craft style gives the game a unique look that goes together extremely well with the audio. Everything has a ‘hand-drawn’ feel which only adds to the urge to go ‘awww’ at the screen.

Gameplay starts off simple enough with a basic idea that could have been enjoyable. Simply put, you’re in control of a group of soldiers who have to make their way to the end of the level. You’re not in full control, however, as they move forward without any input. You can tap them to get them to hold still for a second and more importantly, you can change what they’re wearing. That’s right, what they’re wearing.

If a soldier is dressed up in their full knight armour, then they can clash with enemies and use their sword. Some enemies, like giant stone golums, need to be blown up with a bomb. So instead of dressing as a knight, you need to get your soldier to dress as some robed bomb-throwing person.

Sounds like a neat idea and executed well, this could have been enjoyable, though I soon found problems. Your soldiers will move at various paces, depending on what they’re wearing, and this doesn’t become a challenge but instead frustrates. Soldiers are as dumb as enemies and simply push forward no matter what, leading to instances of soldiers standing on other soldiers’ heads. It also become tricky to switch costumes quickly, which is often required. Sometimes my drage weren’t recognised and other times the wrong soldier would end up changing their outfit.

Another issue I found is that without controlling the movement of the soldiers, I found myself watching some crudely animated men hop from the left of the screen to the right of the screen with little input from myself.

Whilst the game does try and give you some value for money by providing plenty of costumes and content, this becomes another issue to contend with. Often it’s not that clear how an enemy needs to be dealt with or how an environmental obstacle needs to be overcome. This can lead to moments of trial and error which is never enjoyable in a game.

In the end, Every Hero has a lovely look to it and a neat idea for its core mechanic. Ultimately, it ends up executing on this poorly leaving you frustrated and bored. A real shame.